


What happens when mental pictures are no longer enough

by Melie



Series: Practice makes Perfect (KurooTsukki) [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Humor, I use way too many adverbs, Kenma does not get paid enough for this shit, Kissing, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Kuroo has an Epiphany, M/M, Relationship(s), Romance, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 06:52:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11754402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melie/pseuds/Melie
Summary: In which Tetsurou Kuroo realises he is in even deeper trouble than he knew. "I care" simply doesn't cut it any more.





	What happens when mental pictures are no longer enough

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bisc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bisc/gifts).



The day Tetsurou finally realised how much trouble he was in started, as most days do, with breakfast.

It was some time after the whole “I care” debacle – Tsukki hadn't said it back yet, but Kuroo was pretty sure he'd read the words on his face at least _twice_ , both times shut down by hesitation. It didn't matter much, especially since each case had been followed by a lot of touching. And tasting.

So that is where they stood on that fateful day. The camp was coming to a close very soon (too soon), and Tetsurou had started taking mental pictures to carry everywhere with him once team Karasuno was gone. A lot of mental pictures. Ninety-nine percent of them oddly Safe For Work. Okay, fine, maybe just ninety percent of them.

To come back to that morning of all mornings, Tetsurou was having breakfast next to Kenma. Also next to Kenma sat Hinata. Facing Hinata, because of course he was: Tobio Kageyama himself. And finally, Kei Tsukishima had taken his rightful place opposite Tetsurou, Yamaguchi faithfully at his side – although they didn't interact much, Kuroo liked the kid, and not just because he was Kei's One And Only Friend And Probably Best Man At The Wedding If There Ever Was One.

(How Tetsurou did not realise how much trouble he was in from these thoughts alone will forever remain a mystery.)

It just so happened, as it often did, that Tsukishima was in the middle of an argument of sorts with both Hinata and Kageyama, who were _also_ busy arguing with each other at the same time. God, it never got old.

Thus, Kuroo was delighting in the spectacle, and taking plenty of mental pictures of every single expression that passed on Kei's face, as one does. Every arched eyebrow, every slight twitch of the mouth, every eyeroll, every sigh, every time his fist closed on his fork.

That's when it happened.

That's when Tsukki made the Face.

The My Name Is Tsukishima And I'm Going To Wreck Your Shit face. The You Will Never Forget Me face. The I Will Haunt Both Your Dreams And Your Nightmares face.

Tetsurou, it turns out, was very, very fond of the Face.

Now, obviously, some part of him must have subconciously and unanimously decided that mental pictures simply were no longer enough. Which is why Tetsurou suddenly found himself with his phone in his hand, and there was a click and even a bit of a flash.

Kei was astounded as Kuroo would have predicted if he'd planned the whole thing, which he hadn't.

“Did you-”

“Take a picture of you? It appears I just did.”

The rest of the table sat in confounded silence. Kenma's eyes were stuck on his best friend's phone. Hinata's seemed unable to focus on any one in perticular, switching wildly from one team mate (or "rival") to the next. Kageyama struggled to appear as if he didn't care about the whole ordeal. Yamaguchi, must like Kenma, was looking at Tetsurou's phone.

“Why. Would you. Even. Do that.”

“Because you have the Best Face,” he replied, grinning.

In retrospect, that might not have been the best thing to say in public.

Although Kei's wide-eyed shock made it one hundred percent worth it.

“I can give you a picture of mine in exchange,” Tetsurou added, grinning. “Just tell me how you'd like me to pose.”

“No.”

“Awww. That was my ego you just smashed, by the way,” he said, grinning.

“Obviously not hard enough.”

It's at this precise moment that Kuroo became accutely aware of three things.

1 – If Kenma had been the type of person to facepalm, he'd be slamming his head against the table right now.

2 – He was grinning. But not the usual smug “bwahaha” grin. No, an actual “I am so happy right now” grin, which had everything to do with the Best Face and all that was attached to it. Which could only mean that

3 – He had fallen really, really, REALLY hard for Kei Tsukishima. “I care” didn't even remotely cover it any more.

In other words, he was in deep trouble.

 

* * *

 

“I am in deep trouble,” Kuroo said.

He sat on a bench with Kenma while Fukurodani did their penalty, Bokuto complaining loudly in the distance. Tetsurou's eyes were set on the Best Face in the Whole World. Kenma never brought his games to practice so he was staring at his own hands.

“Deep, deep trouble,” Kuroo continued. “And there's nothing to do about it. I mean, it's not as if I can run up to him right now, grab him on the spot, take him away to some place where it's just the two of us and never let him go.”

A pause.

“Can I?”

“No,” Kenma replied patiently, “you cannot.”

“And that's why I'm in serious trouble.”

“Yes. I believe you are.”

“You know, Kenma, you're not the most helpful friend right now.”

“I'm not sure what you want me to say.”

“Me neither.”

Tetsurou let out a deep, deep sigh, and pushed over to make room for Bokuto, who was currently walking towards them.

“Guess I'm gonna have to figure it out.”

 

* * *

 

“It” turned out to consist in walking up to Tsukki right before lunch.

“How hungry are you right now?”

Kei frowned.

“Not very.”

“Great, cause I'm starving. Come with me.”

Finding an empty room became considerably easier when everyone was busy eating. Why hadn't they thought of that before?

“So I'm guessing you're _not_ taking me out for lunch.”

“Not this time; other kind of starving” was all Kuroo managed to reply before literally launching himself onto Kei.

“I'm in deep trouble,” he eventually said in between kisses, prompting Tsukki to push him away and give him a Look.

“What have you done?”

“Nothing.”

“Then-”

“You. You're my trouble.”

“You're not making any sense.”

“I know.”

The kissing had come to a halt, which was probably for the best as it made talking substantially easier this way. Kuroo's hands were still on Tsukki though, one at the base of his neck, the other at his hip, under his T-shirt, so there was still that.

“Does this have something to do with that picture you took this morning?”

“Yes and no. Are you pissed off about that by the way?”

“Still debating it.”

“Because I think it might happen again. And-”

Wow, that Look did get hard to meet, at times.

“That's not all.”

The rest did not come out straight away, and not at all as rehearsed. Unfortunately, Kei was of no help at all, simply staring as Kuroo's mouth opened and closed in silence, a mix of worry and curiosity and maybe (maybe) hope on that Face of his.

“I was thinking.”

Finally, some words.

“I could take the bullet train. Sometime. And meet you. Before the next training camp. And daily phone calls. I was thinking daily phone calls.”

“I care too.”

That had come out of nowhere. Even better than all the possible situations Kuroo had imagined for those words to finally be uttered.

Well, the “I care” statement needed an upgrade, but it was still something. A big something.

“You do?”

“You know I hate repeating myself.”

“Yes. You do.”

“And I-”

Kei's composure was finally cracking, his eyes sliding to the side.

“I guess I can see about taking the bullet train too.”

Oh.

This was good.

And that stupid, stupid grin was back again.

“We'll work it out,” Tetsurou assured, his voice chipper.

“Yeah. I guess we will.”

“And we should go back to the others now.”

“Yes.”

“We need food if we want to survive the afternoon.”

“We probably do,” Kei concurred.

“How many more minutes do you think we have before being unforgettably and unforgivably late?”

“Two. Maybe three.”

“Three minutes it is.”

In the end, the day Tetsurou finally realised how much trouble he was in ended up being one of the best days in his young life. With many more to come.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm pretty sure this is the last fic in the Practice Makes Perfect series... _chronologically_ , at least, since I'll probably be giving those two a few more Moments here and there. Thanks for reading!


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